Supreme Court stays death sentence of Mumbai blasts convict

New Delhi, May 12 (ANI): The execution of a death sentence awarded to Abdul Ghani Isma Turk in connection with the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case was stayed by the Supreme Court on Monday. A Bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishanan issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after admitting Turk’s appeal against his conviction and death penalty by Mumbai TADA Court. The Bench also issued notice to the investigating agency on the appeal of another convict Shaikh Ali Shaikh Umar, who has been sentenced to life imprisonment for his involvement in the conspiracy to cause serial blasts in the city. Turk was the first among the three accused to be awarded death sentence in the case. He along with Mohammad Mushtaq Musa Tarani and Pervez Ahmed Nasir Shaikh were given capital punishment after they were found guilty of planting bombs that killed nearly 100 people. Turk, 52, has been charged with having parked an RDX-loaded jeep in Century Bazar in central Mumbai that killed 88 people (though the chargesheet put the number at 113) — the maximum casualties among the series of explosions on that day. Another 159 people were injured and property worth Rs 2.41 crore was destroyed in the blast. Turk was also directed by the court to pay a total fine of Rs 2.75 lakh. Shaikh Ali Shaikh Umar, a conspirator, was given a life sentence and ordered to pay a fine of Rs 1.5 lakh. Umar was found guilty of conducting a reconnaissance of the headquarters of Greater Mumbai’s Municipal Corporation for an attack. (ANI with inputs)